Going to Takoradi this weekend, Water Situation, Speaking French

Hello family and friends!

I won’t be able to post this weekend (we’re having a group trip to Takoradi and another place that I can’t spell ;) I think it’s the place on stilts on the water. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back!) So, I’m posting now, taking care of various tasks and updates of internet things, and merrily listening to my MP3s on my laptop while doing so. I’m incredibly spoiled. Kate, Chantal & I (the only three Guilford people who came this year) have talked about this a little: that we were given the impression that we would be roughing it in a lot of ways… and this is just not entirely true. It’s complicated. On the same streets where there are open sewers (most of Cape Coast), there’s fast internet. I’ve learned how to bathe out of a bucket, but there’s TV here and really thorough world news. It’s not like living in a village, because we have western toilets, bottled & bagged water, and tons of cars. It’s just complicated. And above all, things really do move slowly here. No one exaggerated about that, it’s just that living through it is very different from hearing about it.

Now then, onto the names of places (since I’m going to Takoradi). Now, generally I have trouble finding rhyme or reason to Fante/Akan/anything Ghanaian pronunciations. I’m sure they exist, but they’re just complicated, and I’m not competent ;) I can just tell you what is vs. what isn’t. However, I have found one interesting pattern, and since it applies to places that I go often, I’m telling you ;) So, there are three places: Abura, Koto Kuraba (I think that’s actually two words, not one), and Takoradi. Now then, as in so many languages, when things are said in conversation, they’re said faster and shortcuts are taken. In this case, for all of these words, the syllable just before the “r” sort of doesn’t exist. When spoken, you just sort of barely flip the R, and then move on with the rest of the word. So, correct spellings followed by Rachel’s pronunciation guide: ;)

Abura : Ah- Brah

Koto Kuraba : Koh- toh- Krah- bah (remember to say it fast)

Takoradi : tahk- Rah- dee (first & last syllables said quickly)

Abura is a market near where I work, Koto Kuraba is a market and a section of town, and Takoradi is one of the large cities in Ghana ;) Also, the term for “market” is “gua mu”, pronounced “gwum”.

Also, I’ve planned for some time to comment upon the water situation in Ghana & in Cape Coast. So, it’s complicated. At the moment, even though we’ve had two brief rains, the dry season is still very much in effect. All the major cities in Ghana are having water shortages, which means most directly that the tap doesn’t run much, or at all. So some people are upset that Ghana is doing things like the huge redenomination of money effort when they’re still having all these major problems. Now, no one’s dying, don’t get me wrong, and you can still buy water from other places, but it’s a hassle.

For me, this meant that for the first two weeks I was here, the water didn’t run from the tap at all. Mother kept saying “it will come”, but life went on extremely normally such that I thought I could imagine what it would be like if it never did. I was wrong, because if the tap didn’t ever run then our gigantic storage tank would not stay filled, and then we’d have a real problem because I haven’t seen any other local sources of fresh water. (We’re very near the ocean). But anyway, after that the water started coming on early in the morning and late at night, and then it stayed on all day… now, it’s back to the morning & night thing. During all this time, however, the other two people on my program, Katie & Chantal, have not had regular running water in their neighborhood, Ola. Shortly after we arrived, the water stopped running even at night. So their stores have just been slowly depleted… now the water runs in some lower parts of Ola late at night, and you can take your buckets to those places, and pay for water to be filled up there. It’s tricky, because you need water to cook, to wash clothes and yourself, and to flush the toilets, which turns into a considerable amount per day.

Now, at my house, the drinking water also plays a part because my family keeps a filter for their drinking water. Most Ghanaians don’t, however, and drink their water without problem. It’s different for us coming from the US because we aren’t used to it. Fortunately, purified water is extremely common here. Even if people don’t use it at home, they buy it at chop bars (restaurants… haven’t been to one yet) and just on the streets and in street shops. Mostly, though, people don’t drink from bottles- they drink from bags of water, called sachets (pronounce that as if you’re British rather than French ;)). Now you might think that this would be a difficult way to drink water – not so. You simply tear a corner with your teeth and put your mouth over it. Now, because of that constraint, one hopes that the exterior of the bag is also clean, but that’s just a chance you have to take. The water inside is definitely purified, although there have been rumors of some substandard stuff going around. At any rate, though, these bags of water hold the same amount as the small bottles they sell here, but use far less plastic, so one would think that this would be preferable from a waste standpoint since no one seems to recycle the plastic ones anyway. They recycle all glass bottles, but that’s a different story.

However, the Ghanaian government has decided that sachet water is a big problem, because they don’t get recycled, or even just thrown away… no, like almost everything else bought on the street, the waste simply gets thrown down. And it’s not only in town- on the beach, in people’s yards, *everywhere* there’s litter of all kinds. I think that this is also because there are very few trashcans. The only places I’ve really seen them are in houses (I have no idea where my house’s small amount of trash finally ends up), and on campus. Even at UCC, though, they are few, and people through sachet bags (is that redundant?) on the ground. I think it’s also because people aren’t used to plastic, though, and have by habit always thrown down all of their trash because it used to all biodegrade. Now, however, empty sachets often end up in the sewer drains that run alongside the streets and clog them. I haven’t actually heard of this in Cape Coast, but I know it’s a big problem in Accra. A lot of the little sachets now have little warnings on them saying, “keep your city clean”, with a hand throwing something into a trashcan. But regardless, the Ghanaian government has decided that they should be banned completely banned. I think this is really just a band-aid solution (as do many others), and that people will still make sachet water unofficially, and in that case they won’t necessarily be selling really clean water. Also, it would be much less available on the streets, where it’s most needed to keep people hydrated in the heat. It would be much less affordable in plastic or glass bottles, and if they used plastic bottles I’m not sure that the waste from that would be any better handled.

Ah well ;) that’s that. On another note, Jane was completely correct about the Benediction service on Sunday nights that I was so confused about with the “most holy sacrament” and whatnot, so if you’re interested please read her comment on my last post :). I had my friend Richard explain it to me the other day. The “holy sacrament” is the bread & wine, the body & blood of Christ (not the ceremony, which is how I was thinking of “sacrament”) - it’s just the elements that have been left in the Tabernacle, symbolic of Christ’s continued presence with us. And they do indeed raise up a thing that looks like a sun (with a compartment in the back for the sacrament) with a cross on top, and this is similar to when Moses lifted up a staff w/ a snake & healed the people of snakebites… I need to look up that passage, so forgive me if I’m getting something wrong in my haste ;) But Richard said that this was a specifically Anglican service, and that it was meant for healing, and that some people claim to have been healed as the cross/sun + sacrament was raised. But anyway, at the seminary they sing really nice music with this service. If only it didn’t have so much male-centered language ;) I might still try to borrow one of the lyric sheets one day and send the songs along to the CCC folks. I don’t know how I’d get a recording of what they sound like, though… I’ll work on that later ;)

And finally, for the day, I’ve met a couple more French-speaking people over the past few weeks! One I met on the way to the Internet café this morning… He just automatically started speaking to me in French. I didn’t understand at first because I was expecting him to speak Fante, but then was so surprised ;) He was from Côte d’Ivoire (aka, the Ivory Coast), and spoke a lot faster than the two men at the seminary, but was very nice. He was carrying cloth someplace, asked me if I was married (an extremely common question), and we parted a few minutes later. As to the marriage thing, I think he was just being polite and asking, though a lot of people ask because they’re interested. So different from the US ;) But anyway, there’s also another francophone at the seminary besides Mardi from Guinea; his name is Pierre, and he’s from Togo. I think he’s somewhat older than Mardi, maybe 35 or 40 years old. They’re both soft-spoken, and fortunately for me, speak very slowly ;) But it’s just very pleasant to talk to them. It gives all of us another outlet since our Fante and even English can be somewhat limited & limiting.

On a related note, there’s a Japanese girl, approximately my age, who got here at about the same time I did and is also working at PPAG (Planned Parenthood). She’s also called Obruni (so, it’s more of a “foreigner” thing than a “white person” thing), but her name is Jun ko, I think, and she’ll be staying here for 2 years. She’s also learning Fante, though in some ways it’s a lot harder for her because she only knows some English and speaks it with a much different accent than Ghanaians are used to. Anyway, she’s nice ;)

And now I’m signing off for the day :) Have a lovely Thursday, and a great weekend! I’ll probably write again in one week.

Thanks for caring!

Much love,

Rachel Rose

Pondering Race in Ghana, among other things

Hello family and friends!

An opportunity for another post has arrived, so I’m going to write more, though not much has happened by way of events since the last one ;)

As a note: I have been told, but have forgotten to check, that when you click on the pictures in my post, they'll get bigger.... so try that with the map, and I'll default make it bigger next time I add more to it ;) promise. This picture here is of me at Kakum National Park, on the first canopy/sky walk in Africa :) It's awesome to be so high up while not on a mountain. It's built from tall tree to tall tree so that passing between them, you can see all the layers of the forest. It's awesome, though tricky to walk on. I never felt like I would fall out, and no one ever has. Also, this is my first contribution to the "where in the world is the CCC staff shirt" project ;)

Things that have happened since Thursday: there’s communion at the 6pm seminary service every Thursday, and while I go every day (except Wednesday and Saturday, when the chapel services don’t happen) my family generally goes on Thursdays, so I sat with them instead of with the seminarians. They sang a song to a tune that I knew, which was nice. Don’t worry, though, I’m also learning some Fante tunes… though I have yet to learn the words ;) that’ll come in time. I also helped my friend Richard edit a sermon on Thursday, and got stung by a soldier ant. I now know specifically what that feels like; don’t worry, there are many worse things. They’re plentiful on a particular wall behind the house, and Abokoba explained to me that they don’t sting just out of meanness, but only when they get trapped or feel threatened in some other way. True to form, the one that stung me only did so because it got trapped under my shirt sleeve. Poor thing.

On Friday I had an “orientation lecture”, which is a component of the Guilford program. I think we’ll have 8 or 9 more, on every Friday when we don’t leave for a trip, and they’re supposed to better inform us about certain aspects of Ghanaian culture and the places we will soon be visiting. This one was on African Traditional Religion, and was quite well done. It was taught by a different person from my current ATR professor, and while we might eventually learn all of the same things I was just taught later in my 200 level class, it was nice to go ahead and learn them at this point. For example, we learned more about Okomfo Anokye, the traditional priest who helped establish the Asante empire, and also more about the various reasons why *so* many people here have facial scars. I mean, certainly not everyone does, but so many that you start to wonder about the proportion. I originally wondered if it was because of certain childhood games or common activities. It turns out that some of them are due to accidents, some have ceremonial purposes, some are meant to cure childhood illnesses/symptoms like convulsions, and some are meant to mark people.

This final one is far more positive than it sounds ;) Although can still be considered somewhat sinister. The professor lecturing to us on Friday said that his scars came because he comes from a certain village. Apparently, at the time of Okomfo Anokye, the Asantes were trying to defeat the Denkyira, to whom they formerly paid tribute, but who had asked far too much. So, they were looking for people to sacrifice, to gain power for the sake of the Asante people’s success, and the chief/king of this particular village offered himself. So, ever after Okomfo Anokye declared that no one from this village could ever be used as a sacrifice, and therefore they are all marked. So, in the olden days (this is a favorite phrase here, and especially in Kumasi) the royal executioners would know by the scars on their faces that those folk could not be touched. However, there’s also (currently living) a medicine man/healer from this village who uses this particular pattern of scarring as his personal mark- anyone he heals gets these scars as a mark of his work.

So, that’s what I learned ;) among many other things. On Friday I also danced at church again, though not nearly as enthusiastically as last time. I feel like the seminarians haven’t really seen me dancing & stretching myself, but they’re extremely amused nonetheless. I still find it extremely strange that I have no particular gift for percussion (I can clap in time, just not when I’m excited about anything), but can dance just fine to any rhythm.

The final thing that happened was the power outage in all of Ghana last night; in any case, such was the word on the street. Now, interestingly, the power here is supposed to go out once every five evenings, from roughly 6pm to 6am, to conserve power. Ghana seems to mostly use hydroelectric power, and so to save power when the dam water is too low, different communities get their power turned off once every 5 nights. It’s called “Lights Out”, and in my opinion, Ghanaians have an awesome outlook on this whole situation. They take it in good spirits, break out candles and a few charged lights… and even the use of these is debated because they take so much power as they’re being charged, and the phrase on everyone’s lips is “we all have to sacrifice”. They very much believe that this is for the overall good & well-being of Ghana/Ghanaians, so they find this strategy of a regular Lights Out perfectly acceptable.

As a result of Lights Out, however, no one could see to fix the machine that normal pounds/kneads the bread here. So, with the help of several normal bread-helpers and some seminarians we pounded (and measured, and prepared to bake) bread dough for 2.5 hours last night. No one said a word about kneading; it was all very interesting. We pounded it just like fufu: with a big stick that has a flat end, and pounding in a huge bowl-shaped mortar (I suppose that’s what it’s called.) I even did some, and people said “it is good”. They say the same thing whenever I’m washing my own laundry. It’s somewhat like post-hole digging- only you never get deeper, the dough only gets softer. Also, you’re relying less on the weight of the stick to bring it down. Instead you’re really *pounding* the fufu. One of my sisters corrected my technique ;).

Today all I’ve done is awoken, eaten some meat pastries, taken my medicine and typed, so I’ll talk about some other things. In particular, my family wants to know about issues of cultural adjustment and race relations, and while I dislike the idea of speaking too early before I’ve learned enough to have a better understanding, it’s also true that I’ve already learned and shifted my ideas a lot, so I’ll try to share that with you.

First of all, there are just difficulties understanding things people say here. For example, words I have misunderstood: Sir, soap (sounded like “soup”. I was very confused), pawpaws, and many other silly things. People here speak English with British & Ghanaian influences, and so it’s tricky to convert it into American English so that I can understand it. I’m ever so slightly afraid that I’m messing up my sister’s accents ;) But more than that, there are also people here who barely speak English at all, and I met one person who truly didn’t. And it’s simply not anyone’s fault that we’re having trouble communicating. I’m learning Fante at a fairly quick pace, but it’s just not enough in some situations. And saying things in a Ghanaian English accent rarely helps, because I often get it slightly wrong, and people don’t expect to hear it from me ;)

But the fact that anyone here speaks English at all is a complicated issue. It’s certainly unnecessary when trying to speak to each other, because even though people come from many different tribes and groups, almost all Ghanaians speak Akan as a first, second or third language. So the only place I really hear English in Cape Coast is in academic settings. Even though some businesses find it very useful, it’s very much the language of the colonizers, even though it’s now so entrenched. Also, it’s interesting that most people that I regularly interact with in Ghana (which is not to say most people, but still) speak better English than I speak French.

There’s also the issue of the Obruni (oh-bru-ni, sometimes oh-bru-nyi). Obruni means “foreigner” technically, but in practice it means “white person”. Sometimes African-Americans are called obruni either because they’re associated with that culture or because they’re so light-skinned. And anyone might call you Obruni, but most often it’s children. They’ll yell “Obruni!” or “Obruni, how are you!” Sometimes they speak as if they’re expecting an answer, and sometimes they don’t, because this is part of a chant that kids learn from a very young age. It goes:

“Obruni, how are you, I’m fine, thank you.” And sometimes they yell and scream it at you, and they’ll do it in big & small groups, and follow you and grab your hands, because it’s fun, and it’s what they’ve been taught to do- not only by other kids, but by their mothers. Sometimes I’ll be walking by, and mothers will chant it to their small children to try & get them to chant along. It’s bizarre to me because to call someone by what they are, particularly by their race, is taboo in the US unless you have no other option. You wouldn’t just say “hey black guy!” but here, I am completely against the norm, and it’s not like Obruni’s a bad word, or like they’ve ever done anything to me. It’s just a remarkably easy way of identifying me (and other Obrunis).

Of course, the American individualist in me cries out “I have a name! I am an individual! Call me by my name!” (People who know me do… people who meet me in passing don’t hesitate to say Obruni). But this culture is not individualistic- instead, they value community, and family, and “Obruni” is essentially the group that I come from. That’s their worldview, and so they call it like they see it.

Many people, though, see Obrunis as extremely gullible, however, and will take advantage of you. Some taxi drivers, for instance, or traders in the market who want to sell things overpriced. Kids will also come up to you and say “Obruni, give me 5 (or 10) thousand”. This really isn’t a lot of money, since 9,000 cedis = 1 dollar at the moment, but still. It’s weird to me, because while all of them could use extra money, not all of them *need* extra money, and I’m simply not used to people randomly soliciting cash from strangers unless they really need it… there’s sort of a pride issue in the United States which is overcome by the “they’re so gullible and have so much money that it doesn’t matter” factor in Ghana.

But not everyone feels this way. Some people say “Obruni, how are you” and either really mean it, or are children and don’t mean anything at all in any direction. And it’s for this reason that I’m trying to improve my Fante. Whenever people call out “Obruni!” I say “Otse den” which means “How’s it going?”. Because I may be ignorant, but I’m trying to correct that ignorance, and yes, of course, their language is good enough for me. I learn a lot more, and get used to the things I’ve already learned by speaking with people. The problem at the moment is that I don’t know many verbs, or even much vocabulary in general, so I can’t do or say anything creative. But I’ll be working on it.

Hmm, so I hope that’s a good beginning for that topic. I’m sure that I’ll learn more later, and look back on today thinking “o, I was so naïve”, but that’s cultural adjustment for you ;)

Other brief topics:

I was wrong about the money conversion thing: in July, 10,000 cedis will = 1 Ghana Cedi. So, a cedi will have roughly the same value as a dollar. There will be six months of overlap between the old currency and the new currency. And where we have cents, they’ll have pesowes (sp?)…

Also, while what I’ve learned from my African Traditional Religion lectures is that people around here have a profound respect for nature because they believe that everything (including every community & idea) has a spiritual aspect, people here don’t get “close to nature” in the same way that they do at home. I have particularly noticed that people here don’t sit on the ground. Practically ever. If I try to sit on the ground, they protest, and get me a chair or small stool. People use the latter quite often. Chiefs in particular are never supposed to sit on the ground, and that’s partially where the importance of stools (as a mark of chieftaincy and the ancestors) comes in. Especially no one at the UCC campus sits on the ground, though in my opinion there aren’t nearly enough benches to justify this. People also sit on somewhat raised things of concrete (around the gutter systems, etc) but never straight on the ground, or even on the floor. The one main exception is that seminarians will sometimes sit or lie on the floor during certain times of worship – particularly on Sunday when the adoration of the altar (I think?) occurs. Actually, I’m not entirely certain what it’s called, but it’s referred to as “the most holy sacrament”, so I really do need to ask ;) Because I’m sure that if anyone had asked me before what the most holy sacrament of any Christian group would be, I’d have said communion. (And I do take communion here, btw).

Anyway, I think that’s it for the day :)

Future topics:

The importance of marriage & children

Extreme homophobia leading to more intimate relationships between people of the same gender.

I love you all! I hope you’re doing well :) If you want my phone number here in Ghana, just send me an email and I’ll tell you.

Thanks for caring!

-Rachel Rose

Maps, classes & such ;)

Hello family and friends!

Here's my draft (soon to be improved) map of Cape Coast…. It’s very roughly to scale, I think/hope. In the future there will be fishing boats and sea creatures named Eric & Kofi in the water. Also, “town” is generically over there where Kotokuraba and Kingsway are… those are the two main parts of town. That’s the geography I’m least sure of, but I’m working on it ;) O, and the green part is the University of Cape Coast, where I'm going to school. I spend most of my time on the science side, but have one class over at Old Site. Next time I post it I'll make it bigger, but for now, enjoy :)

Classes have actually started now: I’ve attended all of mine at least once. African Traditional Religion is getting better. I think that at this point the professor understands better where I’m coming from… though the class gets a huge laugh out of little things and taboo topics from Ghanaian culture that I don’t know about. Jesus in the African Context is good & looks to be extremely interesting in the future, but (through a complete misunderstanding) I offended a classmate on the first day. I’ve tried to explain myself and make amends, but I’m not sure that I’ve completely recovered in that person

y sight yet. It’s tricky. She thought I was demeaning African Traditional Religion (not the class, but the whole topic!) but I wasn’t :( Arg.

I had Muslim Ethics today for the first time, but next week that class will happen on Tuesday during the day. The method here for arranging classes is slightly frustrating for various reasons, but also understandable considering the way that classes must be approached: the pattern of requirements and the sheer number of students that have to be taught mean that lower level classes are fixed and that upper level classes will be shifted on a dime. But apparently people like to travel here on the weekends… so *everything* gets crammed into Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. At the moment, I have nothing of an official nature whatsoever on Thursdays. My one required class on Fridays happens at the precise time when it would be most useful for me to work at PPAG (Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana). C’est la vie.

But back to Muslim Ethics- I’m really excited about it. I have very little background in Islam for a religious studies major, but apparently I think I have plenty for this class. I think I’m going to learn a lot (I already have through just one class), and the professor has a gentle but straightforward manner contributes to a pleasant class environment. Plus, the other students seem really nice. I was *so* lost, and was about to give up & simply hope that the professor would see me and pull me along whenever he came (this is the third week I’ve tried to go to this class. Little did I know that the professor had been traveling this whole time), but my classmates pulled me in & made me feel welcome. I was/am so very grateful. Also, it’s remarkably refreshing & comforting to be called “Sister”. Occasionally the seminarians will call me “sister”, “sister Esi” or “sister Rachel”, but today my classmates in Muslim Ethics also used this word, saying “Sister, we will see you next week”. Mmmm. Honestly, that class made my whole day better.

I wish I had time to write about everything… but I will try to post again on Sunday. In the meantime, I love you all very much.

Future topics:

Ghanaian school dress & hairstyles

Taking cabs around town

Dancing in Ghana (I got to dance in church! It was awesome).

Hissing at people to get their attention

Standing out as a white person in Cape Coast

My daily routine (this will come as soon as it finally solidifies ;))

The water situation

The litter situation

Gye Nyame (this is so cool, look it up on your own if you have time).

I say tomatoes, you say tomantes

And, awesome things from home that I’ve been reminded of while here:

Clothes drying on the line in the summer

Picking tomatoes

Picking up pawpaws, put them in your pocket ;)

What Grandma and I learned from watching the show on the travel channel

Seth Brazelle from Piedmont

Remembering that I know two other vibrant blonds: Ryan & GaYoung

Good times w/ Brock, Sylvia, Kevin & Dana in their apartment this summer

CCC. All of it, but especially JYC 06 ;)

WtHCon (I was thinking about you all…)

Puppet ministry at church

Kristi & Ian’s new baby Kylie, and all the other awesome kids at church

The little ones at Centenary UMC

And dancing. O, what I wouldn’t do for some blues dancing ;) Well, I wouldn’t go home, that’s for sure. I’m having a marvelous time, and as you can tell from the above, still learning a lot :)

Be well, all of you, and thanks for caring!

Much love,

Rachel Rose

Seminary Acceptance, Kumasi, and everything in between ;)

I’ve been accepted to two seminaries! Yaaaaaaaayyyyy! :) So exciting, so happy, so relieved. I mean, I knew that eventually things would work out, and that I should get into most if not all of them, but still. For the past few weeks there’s been so little I could do on that front. But anyway, I’ve been accepted at Candler and Wesley! :) It’s awesome. I’m so thankful. I’m still waiting to hear back from Harvard & Duke, but that’ll come in time.

Also, my laptop’s working, which is marvelous. Nana (a family friend) got me a 3-to-2 prong US plug adaptor, and that makes it work perfectly with my other adaptor minus the transformer. Glorious ;)

And speaking of nice things, here are some common Ghanaian English phrases for you:

Is it nice? -> Does it taste good?

I am coming -> I’ll be right back

Some pieces of Ghanaian etiquette:

1) To see a professor, knock on their office door and immediately enter if it’s unlocked. Back away with apologies if they’re busy.

2) Whenever you’re eating something, offer to share it by saying “You are invited”, or “atom” (sp?) in Fante

3) Start all personal questions, and perhaps occasions where you’re asking for help, with “Mepa wo chow” (sp?) which is often rendered in English as “please”. Ex: Please, where are you from? Mepa wo chow, efi hen?

Also, info about Fante that I would feel bad if I didn’t tell you ;)

So, Fante (actually called Mfantse (m- fahn- TSÉ) by the people who speak it) is part of the Akan language family, which are mutually intelligible languages among the people of the Southern half of Ghana, shifting somewhat into coastal Côte d’Iviore and maybe coastal Togo. The Asante (a- SHAN- tee in English or a-SAN-tee in Asante ;)) are one of these groups that you may have heard of. Anyway, there are lots of different types of Akan, but they’re usually split into two subsections: Mfantse & Twi. Twi basically includes all the other Akan languages/dialects, but like I said, they’re mutually intelligible, so it’s no big deal.

English is used as the language of commerce in Ghana and so everyone learns it in school, though with varying degrees of competency. Hearing Ghanaian people speak it is tricky because they have Ghanaian accents along with British accents. Also, because Akan languages distinguish between genders far more seldom than English does, people tend to confuse “he” and “she” quite often. This can become very confusing when trying to find out what your friend Akwasi might be doing, or when being told the plot of a soap opera. This makes me appreciate all the more how fortunate I am to already speak English. Communication would be far more complicated in a French-speaking African country, though I’ll try it someday.

Shows here are occasionally in English and occasionally in Twi, just depending on the channel and the program. There are 4 free channels in Cape Coast: Metro TV (apparently owned by a white guy, and therefore all in English), TV Africa (“Truly African, Proudly Ghanaian”, “Projecting African Values”), TV3 which comes out of Accra, and another channel that doesn’t come in well at my house ;) Shows range from Ghanaian music videos, talk shows & news to CNN, German economic news in English, MTV Base, the Tyra show & Aljazeera (of which I am very fond). There are also multiple soap operas… some Ghanaian, but also others from different countries which have been dubbed into English. The ones in Spanish are particularly intriguing because I’ve never been able to appreciate them before (not being able to speak Spanish), and now I get to talk to Mother about things like where Miami is located and why a Spanish-speaking soap opera is set there. That one’s called Secreto de Amor, and is a family favorite. The Revenge and The Gardener’s Daughter also come on, but are far less captivating. I think it’s just that Secreto de Amor has one good actress – and debatably also a good actor or two. There’s also Full House, which I believe is set in Japan, but though I’m curious I’ve only seen it once. Another called Timeless is set in Asia somewhere- I just can’t put my finger on the location.

Anyway, back to Fante language things ;)

Fante (emphasis on pronunciation rather than spelling), then English translation-

Mi/me -> I, which is very convenient

Akwaaba -> Welcome, lit: You have come back

Cobra -> Go and Come (something you say to a person who is leaving)

Wofrem -> My name is/ They call me

Paano -> Bread (my Mother here makes bread)

Me d’ase (meh- DAA- seh) -> Thank you

Nyame/ Onyame -> God. Did you know that God was born on Saturday? The Mfantsefo think so ;)

Also, there are various ways of asking “how are you” or “how is your health” in Mfantse. A common way of responding is “Bokoo” (BO – koh with a long second syllable) which means “cool”. Interestingly, Mfantse greetings for the time of the day also depend on how hot it is. So, what is commonly translated as “Good afternoon” (Mema wo aha) doesn’t precisely correspond to afternoon- you say “aha” when you’re still feeling the sun bearing down on you, so from roughly 11am to 4:30pm. Isn’t that neat?

Names are also interesting in Akan cultures. They’re matrilineal, but since colonization people were forced to use paternal names as family names, so that’s tricky. People also have baptismal names, which are often used in school. Everyone also has a day name, which corresponds to the day you were born. There’s a main male name & female name for every day of the week, and also lots of variants. Since I was born on Sunday and the Fante/Mfantse word for Sunday is Kwesida, I can be called Esi. However, (how fun is this) I can also be called Mansa because I am the third born girl and both of my older siblings were girls.

Generally, however, I just say Rachel, even though it’s hard for people to pronounce. (It’s often confused with Richard, which is used here. How convenient that I already have it as a nickname ;)). Using Esi makes some people happy, like the nice taxi drivers and local people selling things at stands… but I feel like my African Traditional Religion professor might not appreciate it. I had that class (my first real class) with ~150 other people yesterday and got picked on, I think, a) because I stand out, and b) because this is a 200 level class and the professor hasn’t seen me with this group of students for the past three semesters. But I think I came out of it ok. I got a nod from the professor at the end of class. The subject matter was very straightforward & introductory, though I had a lot of thoughts on the way he presented it.

In other news, I’ve made just one tentative friend at school (classes having barely started). His name is Mikdad, and he’s a Muslim chemistry major from Tamale. Katie, Chantal and I are sticking together pretty well, though. Mostly we’ve just had a lot of time together by necessity, but it’s been very helpful & enjoyable to talk to them and work through some of our confusions. Chantal’s a bit more independent, perhaps by nature and partially by virtue of her previous experience & old friends in Ghana, but we’ve all been striking out adventurously in our own ways. I think all is well on that front, and it’s nice that we keep each other abreast of things.

Friend-making at the seminary is coming along nicely, however. Especially within the last week & a half :) I’ve met and become friends with Ocansey, Rodger, Benjamin, Edward (I think ;)), and especially Richard. I’m going to Ocansey’s church this Sunday, Rodger’s a sweetheart, Benjamin & Edward play the drums in Chapel & push me in my Fante, and Richard’s going to town with me today to help me pick out a cheap phone. He comes by the most often because he’s a friend of the family. There’s also a guy here from Guinea named Mardi (Tuesday! :)) who speaks French! It’s a wonderful feeling to accidentally meet a francophone on such very friendly terms. I was actually trying to speak Fante with him when he interrupted with “Bonsoir” and apologized for not speaking much English. Neat guy.

I’ve started going to the 6pm chapel service at the seminary every night I’m home. They also have one every morning at 6am, but I’m still shying away from that one in favor of sleep ;) I think spending time with my family at night is important, too. But anyway, these services are very interesting. I’ve experienced ones like them before, but never on a regular basis. I was learning from the Dean about various strands of Anglican development in the US and he mentioned that this seminary is more closely tied to the Catholic tradition than the protestant one. So anyway, every evening except when we have communion there’s are various call and response prayers (which most people have memorized, but I don’t), the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostle’s Creed, lots of “world without end”s, prayers for specific seminary alumni, the St Nicholas (seminary) prayer, one psalm reading, and Old Testament & New Testament readings. This is done in some order- we’ve been going through Genesis for a while reading the story of Abraham & Sarah, now getting to Isaac & Rebekah. The New Testament reading, however, has shifted now from Matthew’s account of the crucifixion to either 1^st or 2^nd Timothy. The hymns we sing are sometimes local ones and sometimes ones out of the book, which means that I might or might not know them- it’s a pretty old edition of the prayer book.

However, the other day we sang a very upbeat, African-drum-inclusive version of “Here I am, Lord”, which I love. That song means a lot to me. And so apparently I “danced” in the chapel service (though personally I wouldn’t give myself that much credit. I think I moved, clapped & sang) and this apparently impressed the seminarians. Lots of them spoke to me after that service. I wish I could do it more, but it’s something I dare not try unless I’m feeling it, and I don’t feel it often because I don’t know many of the songs yet. Perhaps that day will come. Perhaps they’ll also let me teach them about partnered dancing. I got to dance in Kumasi this weekend, which was madly fun until other people tried to dance with me. That sounds rather mean, but the thing is that Ghanaian men are persistent and don’t like to take hints, like when I would block them and dance bigger as they tried to slide in right next to me. Remarkably frustrating. In general, Ghanaian social dancing is far less exuberant than one might imagine. It seems that club dancing here is much like club dancing at home, and if anything, more tame. C’est la vie.

Back to Kumasi… We visited the place where Okomfo Anokye, the traditional priest who conjured the Asante king’s golden stool, placed a sword in the ground and claimed that if it ever came out, it would be the end of the Asante kingdom. Now, there’s evidence to suggest that it came out in the early part of the century, but it’s been returned, and various strong people (Muhammed Ali, for example) have failed to pull it out. The Asante also claim that they never truly lost their war with the British because they never surrendered the golden stool (stools are a mark of chieftaincy). Instead, they sent a gold-plated copper one to them, and the British were quite mad when they found out. It’s an interesting story. King Pimpei I was in exile for most of his reign, first in Elmina Castle, then perhaps in Sierra Leone, and then in Seychelles for many more years. Since then, I think we’re on our fourth king, aka Asantehene. There are also queen mothers to be considered, but there’s much debate about the extent of their power. Many have been extremely influential. One was a hero of that most recent war with the British. But again, it’s a matrilineal system with large doses of sexism against women. It’s tricky.

We also went to the place where boys weave Kente cloth near Kumasi. You know, all the literature says that men weave Kente, but perhaps they just mean males because the only people we saw were adolescent boys, and they were EXTREMELY competitive. It was a very charged atmosphere. From the moment we got off the van they were all vying for our attention and catering to typical tourist fetishes, like Kente-style bracelets with your name on them woven before your eyes in a matter of minutes. There were also neckties, waist wraps, passport bags, and purses with very handy amounts of pockets. In many ways, it was very intense. The boys would shove each other out of the way and argue to get our attention, and we felt rather uncomfortable but learned a lot aside from and because of that experience.

And I need to report success on the fufu front! I had some this Sunday, and while I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed the fufu itself, I did swallow quite a lot of it (and in normal-sized chunks, too!) Amazing what you can learn to do. Interestingly, fufu’s name is the same as the Fante word meaning “white”. I think it’s sort of off-white, but whatever ;)

Sheesh, I know this is a long post, and I could say more, but my final bit of news is that my parents here (Mother and the Dean) are going to America on Thursday night for about 3 weeks. The Dean has a lot of speaking engagements at various seminaries and churches, and Mother’s just going to have a vacation. I think it’s nice. Kind of a weird reciprocity. So, I’ll be here, hanging out with Mother’s other daughters, the seminary folk, and the people who work around the house.

Good luck to everyone at home! I hope school's going well, and life, working, dancing, WtHC plotting, etc etc. I love you all. I'll try to write some letters soon.

More to come later :) Thanks for caring.

Love,

Rachel Rose

Whew... long week. I haven't even figured out what to say, I don't remember all of what I've said before, and I don't have much time, so I'll just talk for now and plan out the next post better when that opportunity comes along ;)
Seminary applications are due today (most of them) and I'm through with my part of them, but they're still mightily intimidating. But anyway, I'm out of the closet, so to speak, about being a future seminarian... I wasn't certain of the reception that I would get, considering how many people in America cannot conceive of women in ministry, but I shouldn't have been worried. Everyone (and in particular I'm referring to everyone I know at the seminary) is thrilled. Tickled pink. I've even been halfway invited to sit in on a pastoral care class by my host father, the Dean, and I am invited to the school's chapel services which happen at 6am & 6pm every day, so I've started going regularly to the evening one. They're very nice & regular. The services always involve a lot of interesting hymn singing, and a lot of recitation. For the latter two I'm generally dependent upon the books of others. This also held true in the Methodist church I visited this week: churches don't keep hymnals- people bring them to church. It's very interesting. I'm in a little more trouble when we start singing Fante hymns, though, as they aren't printed anywhere.
Also, I'm semi-registered for classes at this point, though classes haven't truly started yet and my schedule remains remarkably fluid. In theory, I'm taking a 200 level African Traditional Religions class, a 300 level Muslim Ethics class, and a 400 level Jesus in the African Context class (along with the others required by Guilford). For my service learning, I think I'll be working at PPAG, aka Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana. It's an interesting place, and BOUND to improve my Fante. All sorts of things go on there, but sometimes it's very slow. Yesterday I was there for 6 hours, and nothing much was happening, but someone idly asked me if I danced after lunch and naturally I said yes. I then proceeded to entertain my coworkers for the next 15 minutes. I think they were impressed and amused, but hopefully I'll get more of them to dance with me later. Also that afternoon, though, I watched Snakes on a Plane for the first time (on Ghanaian TV) with a girl who was afraid of snakes, and with that same girl discussed religion and the differences in worldviews between Ghana & the US, so that was fun.
Time to wrap up, unfortunately, but I'll write more later. This weekend we (Katie, Chantal, Akwasi and I) are going to Kumasi, which is the capital of the Asante region, a very important place in the history of Ghana. It promises to be an interesting trip, not in the least because Akwasi promised dancing tomorrow night, but all the more because we get to visit the old Asante palace (as opposed to the new one, which is trickier because there are still Asante royalty (Asantehene?)) and see the famous sword that was stuck in the ground and sounds interestingly similar to the sword in the stone. Nifty. We'll be back on sunday, by the way, and hopefully while in Kumasi I'll get a new adaptor and a cell phone of some kind :) exciting. All the more exciting because it means that if you can manage an international call you can call me (or text me, which is apparently cheap) and it costs me nothing! :) And of course I will call home on my own when I can. And you all count as home, in one way or another.
I love you all. Life is fine, if occasionally tricky ;) So many details to share, so little time.
Toodles!
-Rachel Rose